Police Fine Art Prints - 'Restricted' Artworks

As a result of the First World War and revolutions left and right worldwide, many countries in Eastern Europe emerged with Socialist or Communist types of government. One such state was Soviet Ukraine, where all modern activities were put on hold to give way to the movement called Socialist Realism, a method of painting (the one and only!) allowed by the Communist Party. As such, many of the artworks of this time were also called police fine art prints, referring to the strict imposition of Realism art in the manner of painting.

Painting was limited to thematic expressions of the Russian Revolution, the glorification of the Communist State and its leaders, and depictions of war and its heroes. Still life compositions were discouraged while landscapes allowed only if they could represent images of social transformation. Any art print painter who departed from this structure was persecuted.

Among the prominent artists working in the Socialist Realism manner were V. Kostetsky, M. Bozhii (Lenin), S. Hryhoriev, D. Shavykin, 0. Shovkunenko, 0. Khmelnytsky, and 0. Lopukhov (To Petrograd) whose favorite subjects were Lenin and Stalin.

After Stalin's death, the boundaries of Social Realism became lenient to an extent. In realist painting, official artists turned to Ukrainian folk themes, using bright colors and a flat one-dimensional image.

Realism artworks in Eastern Europe lasted almost until the early 1960's, just when a rebirth of modern art was starting to gain strength. Just like fashion, art constantly moves in a cycle and we are sure to experience at least one of each method in our lifetime.